What follows is a rant (or, mellow, sensitive tirade) against Amazon's Kindle device, originally in response to Annika who questioned why I would boo the thing over on the Twitter. I admit, it's a little grumpy-old-manish. And kind of long. You have been warned.
<rant>
Kindle is the one thing I'm fairly antediluvian about. I just don't see the appeal of reading a book on a digital screen that isn't that much bigger than the palm of my hand. I stare at screens all day long for my job, to get news, to be entertained, and to pursue my creative endeavors. I love taking a break from all that with a book that's printed on paper.
As well, I enjoy taking baths and reading, and I don't think it would be a very good idea to read a Kindle in the bath. It's one thing to get a drop of water on a couple pages of a book, quite another to accidentally drop an electronic device into the tub.
Also, I love the smell of books; it's part of what makes reading a book so special-- it uses all of the senses. Well, except for taste... unless I'm doing it wrong.
Finally, I love going into bookstores, whether it's a Borders or a Half-Priced books or a mom-and-pop operation on Main Street, U.S.A. I can spend hours in a bookstore, just going from shelf to shelf and finding things I'd never know about otherwise. I mean, occasionally I will order a book off Amazon, but only when none of the shops around me have what I'm looking for and I don't want to wait.
I still own almost every single book I've ever bought, borrowed and forgot to give back, or just plain stole because I was a stupid teenager. I hate parting with books, because my copy of this or that book will always be mine. I can write in them, highlight them, whatever, and it doesn't decrease the value (personal, monetary, or intrinsic) of the book itself. Unlike DVDs, which I tend to sell off a truckload of every year to get rid of movies I never watch anymore or to replace with newer versions. But a book is a book is a book. It won't suddenly become out of date or necessitate an "author's cut." They don't need batteries or an electrical output, and they'll never get too scratched. They can be battered, bruised, and falling apart, but the content never suffers. Books are permanent. Or, they used to be...
In summation, the Kindle scares me. I'm afraid it will, eventually, kill off printed books as we currently know them. And there are just too many things I love about a single copy of an individual book that the Kindle can't replace. I really don't want to live in a world where I can't go to Borders and just wander. Maybe there will still be stores, but instead of bookshelves they have kiosks where you can plug your Kindle in to get special features or brand new releases you can't get anywhere else. That doesn't sound like very much fun to me, though, just another reason to be "plugged in". Books allow me to unplug. I need that. The human race needs that.
Oh, and lest we forget the artists/photographers, graphic designers, and layout specialists that create the cover art, book jackets, and interior look of each and every single book that gets published. What will they do for a living if Kindle maims the printed book and defecates on its corpse? Won't somebody please think of the artists?!
</rant>
Update within the Spoiler
<rant>
Kindle is the one thing I'm fairly antediluvian about. I just don't see the appeal of reading a book on a digital screen that isn't that much bigger than the palm of my hand. I stare at screens all day long for my job, to get news, to be entertained, and to pursue my creative endeavors. I love taking a break from all that with a book that's printed on paper.
As well, I enjoy taking baths and reading, and I don't think it would be a very good idea to read a Kindle in the bath. It's one thing to get a drop of water on a couple pages of a book, quite another to accidentally drop an electronic device into the tub.
Also, I love the smell of books; it's part of what makes reading a book so special-- it uses all of the senses. Well, except for taste... unless I'm doing it wrong.
Finally, I love going into bookstores, whether it's a Borders or a Half-Priced books or a mom-and-pop operation on Main Street, U.S.A. I can spend hours in a bookstore, just going from shelf to shelf and finding things I'd never know about otherwise. I mean, occasionally I will order a book off Amazon, but only when none of the shops around me have what I'm looking for and I don't want to wait.
I still own almost every single book I've ever bought, borrowed and forgot to give back, or just plain stole because I was a stupid teenager. I hate parting with books, because my copy of this or that book will always be mine. I can write in them, highlight them, whatever, and it doesn't decrease the value (personal, monetary, or intrinsic) of the book itself. Unlike DVDs, which I tend to sell off a truckload of every year to get rid of movies I never watch anymore or to replace with newer versions. But a book is a book is a book. It won't suddenly become out of date or necessitate an "author's cut." They don't need batteries or an electrical output, and they'll never get too scratched. They can be battered, bruised, and falling apart, but the content never suffers. Books are permanent. Or, they used to be...
In summation, the Kindle scares me. I'm afraid it will, eventually, kill off printed books as we currently know them. And there are just too many things I love about a single copy of an individual book that the Kindle can't replace. I really don't want to live in a world where I can't go to Borders and just wander. Maybe there will still be stores, but instead of bookshelves they have kiosks where you can plug your Kindle in to get special features or brand new releases you can't get anywhere else. That doesn't sound like very much fun to me, though, just another reason to be "plugged in". Books allow me to unplug. I need that. The human race needs that.
Oh, and lest we forget the artists/photographers, graphic designers, and layout specialists that create the cover art, book jackets, and interior look of each and every single book that gets published. What will they do for a living if Kindle maims the printed book and defecates on its corpse? Won't somebody please think of the artists?!
</rant>
Update within the Spoiler
VIEW 25 of 38 COMMENTS
saint:
Muwahahahahaaaa!
delacroix:
the 17th I think.